


Our City's Finest

by RageQuit



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: And There Will Be More, Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, superhero au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-22
Updated: 2015-04-28
Packaged: 2018-03-25 05:46:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3799015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RageQuit/pseuds/RageQuit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Hunters are an elite group of idiots who more or less successfully protect their city. But when an actual threat rises up against them, their mish-mash of strange powers may not be enough to take it down.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Exposition Central

**Author's Note:**

> And I'm back with another chaptered story~
> 
> Also, I promise the whole thing isn't first person. My intention is to start out each chapter with Ray's little "Letter's to No One." They're just there to let me add in some extra details that I couldn't squeeze into the actual story. Anyway, enjoy!

_We are the world’s most ridiculous superheros. The Hunters, we call ourselves. Michael is the only one of us with a vaguely normal ability and that’s only because he doesn’t really have powers at all. He’s an incredibly skilled fighter. No one’s really sure how he developed this ability, it just sort of happened. He was the first one to actually create an alter ego. Mogar he called himself._

_Gavin’s also pretty handy in a strange sort of way but, if you’ve ever met him, you’d know that already. He has the ability to slow down time. His powers are synthetic, though. For being an idiot, he’s really smart. He made the Phantom Gloves himself. They allow him to slow time in a selected area. I have no idea how he actually made it or how it works. I just know that it does. Gavin was the second to come up with a secret identity and mine as well. He also forced everyone else to make one of their own. He was Vav and I was X-Ray._

_Geoff has the very fitting ability to make people drunk. He calls it disillusionment but it’s really just making people drunk off their asses. I don’t know how it works, all I know is that he can’t use it on himself. He does use it on Michael and Gavin a lot though. Probably without their consent a lot of times. Geoff’s creativity didn’t go very far when it came to a persona. He settled on Master Chieff. Deliberately with two f’s, as he’ll tell anyone. Not just because he was drunk at the time he came up with it._

_Unlike Geoff, Jack’s ability counteracts how most people perceive him. He has the ability to shrink. The smallest I’ve ever seen was about the size of a thimble. He tends to not get that small very often though for fear of being squashed. He’s around the biggest group of klutz I’ve ever known, after all. Jack didn’t really care if he had an alter ego or not but Gavin insisted so he simply chose Beardo._

_Ryan is the Disney Princess of the group. He has the ability to summon animals and have them do his bidding. He’s also smart as fuck. I’m with him in his lab all the time. Mostly because I “fascinate” him, but also because I genuinely enjoy being around him. Gavin insists we’re dating and I wouldn’t mind but Ryan isn’t into that sort of thing. Like, at all. I’ve tried. Michael and Ryan had, arguably, the two most threatening persona’s. Mogar and The Mad King. They were also definitely the most creative._

_And then there was me. X-Ray. You’d think I’d have x-ray vision or something along those lines with a name like that. It throws everyone for a loop and I really wish Gavin had been more thoughtful about that. But the name’s stuck with me, it’s too late to change. I don’t have incredible powers of ray vision or anything exciting like that. No. I have the ability to create roses. Nothing else. Just roses. Not even another type of flower. Only fucking roses._

~*~*~*~

Ray had perched himself on one of the counters of Ryan’s Lab/The Hunter’s basement, curiously watching his friend playing with his little sciency instruments for about ten minutes. “So, how’s it going?” He asked finally.

Ryan picked up a beaker full of green liquid and a pipette full of purple. “It’s going fine.” He mumbled, carefully dropping in a precise amount of the purple fluid. 

“What, exactly is ‘it’?” He jumped off the counter and crossed the room to another table top, completely covered in notebooks full of intelligible handwriting and a few assorted beakers. 

“Complicated. You wouldn’t understand.”

Ray frowned and looked back at the other man. “I’m smart, try me.” 

“Complicated. It’d take to long to explain.”

He huffed and went back to analyzing the various items on the table. He settled on a large beaker full of a colorless liquid. He sniffed at it and hummed. “Hey, what’s in this?” 

Ryan glanced over his shoulder, cautiously swirling the concoction in his hands. “Trichloromethane.” 

“Ah, I see.” Ray rolled his eyes and picked up the beaker. 

“It’s chloroform.” 

The young lad immediately jumped back, setting the glass back on the table. “Why the hell do you have chloroform?!” 

“Why not?”

He didn’t really have an argument for that so he let it go, moving onto the other full beaker on the table. “What’s in that one then?” He pointed towards the glass filled with a bubbly substance.

Ryan’s project gave a small puff as he looked away to see what Ray was pointing at. He gave the kid a curious look and added a few more drops from the pipette. “That’s Sprite.”

Ray turned red. “Ah. Can I have a sip?”

“Knock yourself out.” 

“That’s what the chloroform’s for.” Ray grinned at the small chuckle he’d gotten out of Ryan. He’d taken a swig of the older man’s drink and returned to his spot on the counter, contentedly riding out the next twenty minutes in silence. Save for the times that Ryan would mutter some science word or other. Ryan was typically talkative and fun but when he was in science mode what few words he did say were in the form of chopped, short sentences.

Finally he straightened up and held out a blue mixture to Ray. “Drink this.” 

He narrowed his eyes at the beaker. “It’s not going to kill me right?”

 

“It shouldn’t.”

“Works for me.” He downed the liquid and handed the glass back to Ryan. He waited a moment before talking. “What’s it supposed to do?”

Ryan set the beaker aside and grabbed Ray’s wrists and flipped them over to stare at his palms. “Rose.” 

“What?”

“Rose.” 

“Oh, right.” He popped a long stemmed rose into his palm, curiously watching Ryan for his reaction.

He huffed and grabbed the flower, tossing it onto the table behind him. “Try again.” 

Ray sighed and produced another rose, watching as Ryan’s face contorted. “What exactly are you trying to do to my roses?”

“Go give that one to Jack.” He curled Ray’s fingers around the second flower. “I’m busy.” He grabbed the beaker and set back at mixing various colors.

~*~*~

“What’s Ryan trying to do to my roses?” Ray dropped the rose in Jack’s lap, as per instruction.

Jack looked up at him for a moment before returning his attention to the TV. “How should I know?”

“Because he told me to give you this?”

“So?”

“So, I want you to tell me what’s going on.” 

Jack sighed and shifted his attention away from the TV. “All I know is that he’s trying something. He’s asked me to help him study the flowers up close and then let him know if I find anything strange. Beyond that, I don’t know.” 

Ray groaned, waving a hand at him dismissively. “If he fucks up my flowers, I’m gonna be pissed.”


	2. On Your Toes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know what's hard as dicks? Writing opening chapters. Oh well...

_Michael Jones is one of the most impressive men I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing. From what I’ve learned, he’s always been a skilled fighter. When he was young he begged his parents to sign him up for self defense classes where he quickly excelled, rising through the ranks at an astonishing pace. It’s pretty much been his passion in life._

_He’s taught me a lot of things throughout the years, seeing as showering someone with roses isn’t exactly a viable technique when it comes to saving the day. I like to think I’m good enough to hold my own, but it doesn’t come naturally to me like it does to him. I think that frustrates him. Most things do._

~*~*~

“I hate this.” 

“Hush. Hold still, Ray.”

“I hate you.” 

“Ray, please.” 

“I hate everything.” 

“Come on, Ray!” Gavin huffed, crossing his arms. 

“I don’t want you playing with my hair!” He groaned, shaking his head and successfully knocking out some of the roses Gavin had woven in. 

The Brit watched the flowers fall to the bed and frowned. “I’m just trying to make you look nice.”

“You’re a fucking idiot.”

Gavin opened his mouth to argue when the door to the room burst open to reveal a very flustered Geoff. “Get your asses in gear, we’re- why do you have flowers… never mind. We’ve got a bank robbery. Hostages, people are dead. Move out, come on!” And with that, he was gone. 

The two Lads blinked at each other for a second before scrambling to action, Ray brushing the remaining flowers from his hair first. In a minute they were suited up and out the door, sliding into a car alongside Michael who floored the gas before Gavin even had a chance to shut the door. 

Hot on the tail of the Gents, they slid up to the bank in no time. “All right boys.” Geoff’s voice crackled in their ear pieces as they slid past the police barricades and piled out of their vehicles. “Vav, shut the place down. Beardo, Mogar, infiltrate and get those people out of there. King, you’re with me ‘round back. X-Ray, keep watch, don’t let them get out of here. Move!” The team shot to their positions instantly. 

Gav stood in front of the building, bracing himself and slowing down time in the building for Michael and Jack to zip inside and pull hostages out. “Five minutes, max. Go!” He called out and the other two shot inside. 

Geoff and Ryan were behind the building, prepping for the expected mad dash out the back door. Geoff by sabotaging the getaway driver and Ryan by arming himself with a fleet of hawks and other assorted birds of prey. 

Poor Ray was stuck, as always, on watch. That’s what he was best at. He glared at everything around him, including Gavin as he started to shake under the pressure of holding an entire building practically in a stasis. He huffed as Michael’s voice came over the earpiece. “There’s six of ‘em in here, Chieff. Looks about eight hostages.” Then the line went silent again and Ray was left with his own thoughts. 

He slouched back against the wall behind him and folded his arms. Look out’s were important, but they got the most boring job. _No one ever gets past them anyway._ He looked back to the bank as several bird screeched and a very unattractive scream pierced the air from behind the building. _How does Ryan even get these animals?_

Five of the eight hostages were outside being consoled by the first responders on the scene, Gavin was practically trembling but Michael and Jack were making quick work getting the last three. That’s when a crash sounded from the second floor of the building. Ray looked up to find one of the heisters diving out a window. The man hit the pavement and rolled once before standing up in near perfect condition. 

Without a second thought he took off after the man. It was the first real action he’d gotten in a long time. He panted, digging deep into his recesses of energy to catch up the the man. He was just about to launch himself at his target when the man whipped around and grabbed Ray by the neck, roughly pinning him against the nearest wall. “You’re quick.” He grinned, breathing heavily. 

“I try my best.” Ray growled back. In a swift motion the man had turned Ray around and twisted his arm behind his back and shoved him back into the wall. 

“Your little group of friends, your little Hunters. You’re going to fall apart.” The man grabbed Ray by the neck again with his free hand, slowly tightening his grasp until the Lad was sputtering and gasping for a breath. “This is much more than any of you could have anticipated.”

And then he was gone. Ray collapsed to the ground, lightly touching his throat as he coughed. _Fucking great. Only action you see in weeks and you let him toss you around like a fucking pancake and then get away._

“X-Ray!” Geoff’s voice crackled over the ear piece. 

The Lad coughed again, raising a shaky hand to the device and pressing the unmute button. “Yeah?” The word came out far more raspy and breathless than he’d have liked. 

“You okay man? What happened? Where are you?”

“I’m fine.” He croaked. “Down the block. Tell you later.” He took his hand away from his ear and stood up, stumbling slowly towards the bank. 

He heard Michael yelling before he could actually see him. “Vav, what the fuck?!” He couldn’t quite make out Gavin’s response. “You fucking let the last one get away!” The word ‘X-Ray’ managed to make it to his ears. “But he shouldn’t have had to, idiot! You’re the one with the slow motion, just fucking slow the guy down!” 

Ray was close enough to hear Gavin’s response this time. “It’s not that simple! I was holding the whole damn building in slow-mo! I couldn’t just ‘oh look, there’s another guy, let’s just widen the slow-mo radius’ you mong!” 

“You can just widen the radius, I’ve seen you do it before!” Ray rounded the corner to find Geoff, Ryan, and Jack had already left, while Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum were there, waiting for him. 

“Well, maybe I didn’t bloody see him!” Gavin shouted, flailing his arms over his head. 

“Uh, guys?” Ray quietly held his hand up in an attempt to get them to stop. 

Michael held his own hand up to Ray in a _shut up and wait_ gesture. “Didn’t see him?! He fucking jumped out a window right in front of you and you didn’t see him?!” 

“No!”

“Bull shit! Why the fuck didn’t you stop him?!”

“We all make mistakes, guys, it’s okay.” Ray tried again. 

“X-Ray, shut up. Why didn’t you stop him?! Vav!” 

“Maybe I just didn’t feel like it, you bastard! Leave me alone! I’m walking home, go away!” Gavin turned on his heel and brushed past Ray without a second glance. 

The other two Lads stood in silence, watching him walk off. “M, maybe you should’ve backed off.” 

Michael sighed and moved around to the other side of his car, swinging the driver door open. “I know.”

“You know how much the slow-mo wears him out.” Ray slid into the passenger seat. 

“I know, I just--”

“Yeah, I get it. To be fair, the guy was fucking slippery.” Ray shrugged. “He gave me some news for the Chieff though.”


End file.
